A hearing on the fate of the Super 8, at 1078 E. Dublin-Granville Rd., began on Wednesday and
will continue on July 16.

Thirteen hotels and motels remain open at one of Columbus’ major gateways, where many travelers
form a first impression of the city.

Mayor Michael B. Coleman knows that. He said the city is taking steps to redevelop the area
along Rt. 161.

“It used to be a very vibrant commercial corridor,” Coleman said. “We have to eliminate the
criminal element first.”

And he is concerned about the perception that boarded-up hotels might leave with visitors. The
city doesn’t want vacant and abandoned buildings, he said.

In the 1960s and ’70s, the area was the city’s primary location for corporate hotels. Today, it’s
a third-tier market with too many rooms, said Eric E. Belfrage, a first vice president for CBRE
Hotels, which brokers hotel properties.

Still, Belfrage said, people are spending money on the area, and some of the hotel properties
could be redeveloped. He pointed to the Giant Eagle supermarket built on a former hotel site.

Brandon Boos, president of the nearby Salem Civic Association, suggested that some of the hotels
could be developed into condominiums.

“As long as the properties are owned by the current owners, the ball is in their court,” he
said. And restoring the area to anything faintly resembling its former status “is going to be a
long-term process.”

Emmanuel Remy, who leads the Northland Community Council, said the future could include
assisted-living and long-term-care residences for the growing number of senior citizens in the
Northland area.

He pointed to an example along Schrock Road, where a former motel was turned into an
assisted-living center.

He said two developers are interested in acquiring commercial properties along Rt. 161 but would
not give details.

Although the community is concerned about the closed hotels, “I’d rather have these places shut
down than to be a breeding ground for criminal activity,” Remy said.

The North Side interchange isn’t the only area where hotels and motels are suspect.

“We are gathering evidence on many hotels in the city,” Assistant City Attorney Bill Sperlazza
said. “Two dozen is a fair number.”

Other areas include the I-70 interchanges at Brice Road, Hilliard-Rome Road and W. Broad Street,
said Scott Clinger, the community-liaison police officer for the I-71/Rt. 161 area.

In the meantime, city lawyers are working on proposed legislation to license city hotels and
motels, modeling it after a California law.

Chula Vista, Calif., a city of 240,000 near San Diego, allows officials to deny annual hotel and
motel permits if they decide there have been too many police runs or drug- and prostitution-related
arrests.

“Right now, it takes enormous resources to go to court on these cases,” City Attorney Richard C.
Pfeiffer said.

A hurdle for Columbus is a 50-year-old state appellate-court decision that a city hotel license
conflicts with Ohio law, which gives licensing authority to the state through the fire marshal’s
office. Sperlazza said the city would make sure any new law would not conflict with the fire
marshal’s license.

Columbus City Councilman Zach Klein, who leads the public safety committee, said he doesn’t want
to see legislation that burdens good hotel or motel operators.